Patriarch Alexei, Mnogaya Lyeta! Metropolitan Laurus, Mnogaya Lyeta!

The Russian Orthodox Church today formally ended an 80-year global schism triggered when exiles refused to accept the domestic church’s subservience to the Soviet state.

In a ceremony at Christ the Savior Cathedral, which was rebuilt in the 1990s after being torn down by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, the top leaders of the domestic and overseas Russian Orthodox hierarchies signed an act of “canonical communion.”

The document provides for the full restoration of religious unity under the Moscow patriarchate while maintaining autonomy for the church abroad in organizational and economic matters. ~The Los Angeles Times

As many of you know, I am a convert to the Orthodox Church, and I was baptised in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. I remain at a Synod parish here in the Chicago area, and I intend to remain there. The reconciliation between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church has now been formally realised and completed, and I believe this is very good. I understand the reservations of some of our brethren about the potential pitfalls that this might entail, and I respect the Traditionalist Orthodox who rightly guard against the evils of ecumenism, but there was no longer any real impediment to the reconciliation with Moscow. There was no longer anything that really justified the continuation of the Russian Church Abroad outside of communion with Moscow. As of today, the Russian Orthodox around the world will be united, and, what is more, on account of his reconciliation all Russian Orthodox everywhere are in communion with all other main Orthodox jurisdictions. I understand that this is a point of concern for those skeptical about the reconciliation with Moscow, but it seems to me in this case that the great good of restoring full unity among the Orthodox is worth risking those dangers that may lie ahead.